Semiconductor storage device and method of fabricating the same

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor storage device includes a memory cell array, a plurality of word lines, a plurality of bit lines, a first gate wiring element  3   a,    3   b , a second gate wiring element  3   c,    3   d , a first connector  5   a,    5   b , and a second connector  5   c,    5   d . Each memory cell  10  has first and second sets having a driver transistor  11 , a load transistor  12 , and an access transistor  13 . The word lines are arranged in parallel to each other along a first direction. The bit lines are arranged in parallel to each other along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The first gate wiring element comprises a gate electrode of the first driver transistor and the first load transistor, and has a rectangular shape having straight line on opposite sides. The second gate wiring element comprises a gate electrode of the access transistor and has a rectangular shape having straight line on opposite sides.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/237,037 filed on Sep. 24, 2008 now abandoned, which is a Continuationof U.S. application Ser. No. 11/727,040, filed on Mar. 23, 2007 nowabandoned, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.10/971,115, filed on Oct. 25, 2004, now abandoned, which is a Divisionalof U.S. application Ser. No. 10/190,715, filed on Jul. 9, 2002, now U.S.Pat. No. 6,812,574, claiming priority of Japanese Patent Application No.2002-003266, filed on Jan. 10, 2002, the entire contents of each ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a semiconductor storage device and,more particularly, to a static random access memory.

2. Description of the Prior Art

A static random access memory (hereinafter referred to “SRAM”) is usefulbecause it does not require refresh operation. However, the number ofelements constituting one memory cell in the SRAM is large to increasean occupied area by the memory cell. For this reason, it is required toreduce a cell area. For example, Japanese Laid-open Patent PublicationNo. 9-270468 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,744,844) and Japanese Laid-open PatentPublication No. 10-178110 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,163) illustrate examplesof cell layout in which one cell having a length in a word linedirection which is larger than a length in a bit line direction. Of theexamples, a flat configuration of the SRAM described in JapaneseLaid-open Patent Publication No. 10-178110 is shown in FIGS. 16 and 17.FIG. 16 is a plan view related to one memory cell of the SRAM. FIG. 17is an equivalent circuit diagram corresponding to the memory cell shownin FIG. 16. The length in the bit line direction is shortened toincrease the speed, and the layout of an active layer and a gate wiringelement has a simple shape to reduce a cell area.

From a viewpoint of decreasing patterning size, a phenomenon (opticalproximity) in which a resist pattern on a wafer is distorted becomesconspicuous due to the interference of light in an exposure device. Inaddition, even in an etching process, pattern distortion is generated bythe micro-loading effect after etching. The micro-loading effect is aphenomenon in which an etching rate decreases in a direction of depthwhen a pattern having a large difference in density. In recent years, inorder to minimize these pattern distortions phenomena, a technique forthe optical proximity correction (OPC) is developed and used in which amask pattern is automatically corrected in advance in a photographyprocess.

In general, in order to form a contact by forming a contact hole in agate wiring element, a cover margin such as a lithographic margin and amachining margin must be set in consideration of blur inphotolithography process. For this reason, a portion in which a contacthole should be formed on the gate wiring element must be deformed byincreasing the width of the portion by a length corresponding to a covermargin. In addition, since a width must be partially increased to makethe width of the gate wiring element fine, decreasing patterning sizecannot be achieved easily.

In order to decrease patterning size in consideration of an opticalproximity correction (OPC) pattern obtained by the optical proximitycorrection (OPC) technique, when gate wiring elements are complicatedlyarranged, margins for the optical proximity correction must be set inthe longitudinal and lateral directions. For this reason, a memory cellarea cannot be reduced sufficiently because sufficient decrease in sizecannot be achieved, and the margins are factors which hinder decrease insize.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to secure lithographic andmachining margins without complicatedly deforming a gate shape information of a gate wiring element of a semiconductor storage device,especially, an SRAM.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is asemiconductor storage device including a memory cell array, a pluralityof word lines, a plurality of bit lines, a first gate wiring element, asecond gate wiring element, a first connector, and a second connector.The memory cell array has a plurality of memory cells. Each memory cellhas first and second driver transistors, first and second loadtransistors, and first and second access transistors. That is to say,first and second sets each having a driver transistors, a loadtransistors, and an access transistors are designed in each memory cellwithin SRAM. The memory cells are two-dimensionally arranged on asemiconductor substrate. The word lines are connected to the memorycells and are arranged in parallel to each other along a firstdirection. The bit lines are connected to the memory cells and arearranged in parallel to each other along a second directionperpendicular to the first direction. The first gate wiring elementcomposes a gate electrode of the first driver transistor and the firstload transistor, and has a rectangular shape having straight line onopposite sides. The second gate wiring element composes a gate electrodeof the access transistor, and has a rectangular shape having straightline on opposite sides. That is to say, the first and second gate wiringelement have fair lines such as notch-less shape. The first connectorconnects the first gate wiring element, an active region of the seconddriver transistor, and an active region of the second load transistor toeach other. The second connector connects the second gate wiring elementto the word lines.

In another aspect of the present invention, there is a semiconductorstorage device including a memory cell array, a plurality of word lines,a plurality of bit lines, a first gate wiring element, and a second gatewiring element. The memory cell array has a plurality of memory cells.Each memory cell has first and second driver transistors, first andsecond load transistors, and first and second access transistors aretwo-dimensionally arranged on a semiconductor substrate. The word linesare connected to the memory cells and arranged in parallel to each otheralong a first direction. The bit lines are connected to the memory cellsand arranged in parallel to each other along a second directionperpendicular to the first direction. The first gate wiring elementcomposes a gate electrode of the first driver transistor and the firstload transistor. The second gate wiring element is connected to theaccess transistor.

In the semiconductor storage device according to the present invention,the first gate wiring element and the second gate wiring element haverectangular shapes each having straight line on opposite sides and beingfree from a notch or a projection, and are linearly laid out. In thismanner, since the first and second gate wiring elements can be formed athigh accuracy, the characteristics of transistors constituting a memorycells can be stabilized. For this reason, a semiconductor storage devicehaving stable characteristics can be obtained. In the semiconductorstorage device, contacts to the respective wiring elements are formed byusing local inter connectors (LICs). More specifically, the contacts ofthe respective gate wiring elements are not formed through via holesdirectly formed on the gate wiring elements, but the contacts are formedby the local inter connectors (LICs) formed by tungsten damascene. Whenthe local inter connectors (LICs) are used, regular gate wiring elementseach having a rectangular shape can be laid out without making a covermargin for contact in formation of the gate wiring elements. Inaddition, since the first gate wiring elements and the second gatewiring elements are laid out in parallel to each other, in the step offorming gate wiring elements by photolithography process, patterndistortion caused by interference can be suppressed. Therefore, anoptical proximity effect in the photolithography process can besuppressed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become readily understood from the followingdescription of preferred embodiments thereof made with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which like parts are designated by likereference numeral and in which:

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an equivalent circuit corresponding toone memory cell of a semiconductor storage device according to a firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a configuration in which gate wiring elementsof the semiconductor storage device according to first embodiment of thepresent invention are centered;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the configuration along A-A′ line in FIG.2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the configuration along B-B′ line in FIG.2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the configuration along C-C′ line in FIG.2;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the configuration along D-D′ line in FIG.2;

FIG. 7 is a conceptual plan view of a portion related to wires of amemory cell of the semiconductor storage device according to firstembodiment of the present invention when viewed from the above;

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the step of forming gate wiring elementsin a method of fabricating a semiconductor storage device according tofirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a step of forming stack via holes forconnecting a formed local inter connector LIC in the method;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a step of burying tungsten in a first via holeand removing tungsten from the other area by etching;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a step of depositing a third metal layer andetching the third metal layer in the method;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a step of forming gate wiring elements in fourmemory cells of a semiconductor storage device according to a secondembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a configuration in which the four gate wiringelements in the four memory cells of the semiconductor storage deviceaccording to the second embodiment are centered;

FIG. 14 is a plan view of another configuration in which gate wiringelements of four memory cells of the semiconductor storage deviceaccording to the second embodiment of the present invention arecentered;

FIG. 15 is a graph on a relationship between an aspect ratio of a gatewiring element and the number of generated defects in a semiconductorstorage device according to a fourth embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 16 is a plan view of a configuration in which gate wiring elementsin a prior art semiconductor storage device are centered; and

FIG. 17 is a circuit diagram of an equivalent circuit corresponding toone memory cell of the semiconductor storage device shown in FIG. 16.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Semiconductor storage devices according to embodiments of the presentinvention and a method of fabricating the same will be described belowwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

A semiconductor storage device according to first embodiment of thepresent invention and a method of fabricating the same will be describedbelow with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11. The semiconductor storage devicewill be described first with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. Thesemiconductor storage device, as shown in FIG. 1, has a memory cellarray in which memory cells 10 each including two sets of a drivertransistor 11, a load transistor 12, and an access transistor 13 aretwo-dimensionally arranged. Wires of one of the memory cells 10 will bedescribed below. This memory cell 10 has two types of gate wiringelements. More specifically, the memory cell 10 has a first gate wiringelements 3 a and 3 b composing a gate electrode of the driver transistor11 to the load transistor 12, and connecting the driver transistor 11 tothe load transistor 12. Additionally, the memory cell 10 has second gatewiring elements 3 c and 3 d composing a gate electrode of the accesstransistor 13, and connecting the access transistor 13 to a word lineWL. The first gate wiring elements 3 a, 3 b and the second gate wiringelements 3 c, 3 d have rectangular shapes having straight line onopposite sides being free from a notch or a projection, and are laid outto have longitudinal directions thereof are parallel to the direction ofthe gate width of the access transistor 13. More specifically, the gatewiring elements 3 are laid out in parallel to longitudinal direction ofa word line. In this manner, since the first and second gate wiringelements 3 a, 3 b, 3 c, and 3 d can be formed at high accuracy, thecharacteristics of the respective transistors can be made stable. Forthis reason, a semiconductor storage device having stablecharacteristics can be fabricated. The longitudinal direction of theword line is referred to as a first direction. A direction beingperpendicular to the first direction is referred to as a seconddirection.

In Japanese Laid-open Patent Publications Nos. 2000-124332, 2000-208643,and 2000-31298 describe SRAMs each having a linearly arranged gatewiring element. However, in all the SRAMs described in thesepublications, contacts are formed by directly forming contact holes inthe gate wiring elements. In fact, since a cover margin for making acontact is required, the gate wiring element is deformed or has anexcessive width. For this reason, in contrast to the present invention,a rectangular gate wiring element cannot be obtained to have straightline on opposite sides and to be free from a notch and a projection. The“notch” mentioned here is a crena or a depression. Therefore, the“straight line” means that a side has substantially linear line formedwithout the notch.

In this semiconductor storage device, contacts to the gate wiringelements are formed by using the local inter connector (LIC) describedin U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,427. More specifically, as the contacts to therespective gate wiring elements, contacts are not formed through viaholes directly formed on the gate wiring elements, and they are formedby the local inter connectors (LICs) formed by tungsten damascene. Byusing the local inter connector LIC as described above, a cover marginfor contact is not needed in fabrication of the gate wiring elements,and rectangular gate wiring elements can be laid out having straightline on opposite sides without a notch or a projection. Since the firstgate wiring elements 3 a and 3 b and the second ones 3 c and 3 d arelaid out in parallel to each other, pattern distortion caused byinterference can be suppressed in the step of forming the gate wiringelements by photolithography process. For this reason, optical proximityeffect in the photolithography process can be suppressed. Therefore, thegate wiring element can be in a small size.

In addition, the configuration of the semiconductor storage device willbe described below. As shown in FIG. 1, The semiconductor storage deviceis an SRAM including first and second driver transistors 11, first andsecond load transistors 12, and first and second access transistors 13,which are arranged in one memory cell 10. In one memory cell 10 shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, a word line WL in the longitudinal direction is longerthan a bit line BIT in the longitudinal direction. FIG. 2 shows aconfiguration in which connections between gate wiring elements 3 a, 3b, 3 c, and 3 d and local inter connectors (LIC) 5 a, 5 b, 5 c, and 5 dare centered. Each first gate wiring element 3 a and 3 b composes a gateelectrode of the driver transistors 11 and the load transistor 12. Thefirst gate wiring elements 3 a and 3 b are also in contact with theother driver transistor 11 and the other load transistor 12 in the samememory cell by the first local inter connectors (LIC) 5 a and 5 b madeof tungsten (W) formed by a damascene process. Each second gate wiringelement 3 c, 3 d composes a gate electrode of the access transistor 13.The second gate wiring elements 3 c and 3 d are also in contact with aword line by the second local inter connectors (LICs) 5 c and 5 d. Crosscouple wires of an inverter in the memory cell are formed by using localinter connectors (LICs), a bit line is formed by a second metal wire, aVDD line is formed by a second metal wire, and a ground (GND) line isformed by a second metal wire.

Furthermore, a configuration extending from the substrate surface of asemiconductor substrate 1 of the semiconductor storage device in thevertical direction will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 to7. Of these drawings, FIGS. 3 to 6 are sectional views showing thestructure along cut lines in FIG. 2. In the semiconductor substrate 1 ofthe semiconductor storage device, as shown in the sectional view alongthe longitudinal direction (first direction) of a word line in FIG. 3, aP well region, an N well region, and a P well region are sequentiallyformed along the first direction. In addition, the access transistor 13,the load transistor 12, and the driver transistors 11 are formed suchthat the transistors are isolated from each other by an elementisolation oxide film. On the semiconductor substrate 1, the first gatewiring element 3 b, made of poly-silicon, connecting the drivertransistors 11 to the load transistor 12 extends along the firstdirection. The second gate wiring element 3 c made of poly-siliconlinearly extends on the access transistor 13 along the first direction.As shown in FIG. 3, the first and second gate wiring elements 3 b and 3c, form contacts by the first and second local inter connectors 5 b and5 c made of tungsten and buried in a trench for a local inter connectorformed in an insulating interlayer deposited on the gate wiringelements. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, the local inter connector LICis connected to the first metal wiring element by a stack via hole. Asshown in FIG. 5, the first local inter connectors (LICs) 5 b and 5 amade of tungsten are buried. As shown in FIG. 6, as to the connectionbetween the gate wiring elements 3 and the local inter connectors (LICs)5, even though mask offset happens offset by a side-wall width can beallowed. A configuration related to the wires of the semiconductorstorage device is shown in the plan view in FIG. 7. FIG. 7 shows only aconfiguration related to the wires except for an insulating interlayerwhen viewed from the above.

A method of fabricating the semiconductor storage device will bedescribed below with reference to FIGS. 8 to 11. This semiconductorstorage device is fabricated by the following steps.

(a) A semiconductor substrate 1 is provided.

(b) The element isolation oxide film 2 is formed at a predeterminedportion of the semiconductor substrate 1.

(c) Ions are implanted in a predetermined portion to form a well region.In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, well regions are sequentially formedsuch that a P well region, an N well region, and a P well region aresequentially arranged on the semiconductor substrate 1. The direction ofthe arrangement is set as a first direction. The first direction isequal to the longitudinal direction of one memory cell 10.

(d) After a gate oxide film is deposited, and poly-silicon wiring layers3 serving as gate wiring layers are deposited.

(e) Ion implantation is performed to form the transistors 11, 12, and13.

(f) Thereafter patterning is performed, as shown in FIG. 8. In thismanner, the first gate wiring elements 3 a and 3 b and the second ones 3c and 3 d are formed. The first gate wiring elements 3 a and 3 b, asshown in FIG. 8, composes a gate electrode of the driver transistor 11and the load transistor 12, and are linearly arranged along the firstdirection. The second gate wiring elements 3 c and 3 d composes a gateelectrode of the access transistor 13, and are linearly arranged alongthe first direction. Each of the poly-silicon wiring layers 3 has arectangular shape having straight line on opposite sides and being freefrom a notch or a projection, and is regularly arranged. For thisreason, in patterning, the accuracy of decreasing patterning size can beimproved.

(g) A sidewall 4 is formed.

(h) A source S and a drain D are formed by ion implantation.

(i) A CoSi₂ layer is formed.

(j) An etching stopper film is deposited. A flattening insulating film 6a is deposited.

(k) The flattening insulating film 6 a is etched by using a mask for anlocal inter connector LIC. At this time, the etching is stopped by theetching stopper.

(l) The etching stopper film exposed by etching the flatteninginsulating film 6 a is removed to form a trench for a local interconnector LIC.

(m) Tungsten is deposited in the trench for local inter connector LIC,and the resultant structure is flattened. The tungsten is left in onlythe trench (W damascene process) to form a local inter connector LIC 5made of tungsten. The first local inter connectors (LICs) 5 a and 5 band the second local inter connectors (LICs) 5 c and 5 d can be formed.Since contacts to the gate wiring elements can be formed through thelocal inter connectors (LICs) 5 a, 5 b, 5 c, and 5 d, the shapes of thegate wiring elements need not deformed to make a margin for contact. Asthe damascene method with respect to the first local inter connectors(LICs) 5 a and 5 b, a damascene method for forming only the wires can beused.

(n) A flattening insulating film 6 b is deposited.

(o) Holes for stack via holes 7 are formed.

(p) Tungsten is removed except for the local inter connectors (LICs) 5and the stack via holes 7, as shown in FIG. 9. In this manner, the stackvia holes 7 can be formed to connect the second gate wiring elements 3 cand 3 d to the word line WL through the second local inter connectorLICs 5 c and 5 d.

(q) A first metal layer 8 is deposited on the entire surface of theresultant structure.

(r) The first metal layer 8 is removed by using a mask for a first metalwiring element except for on a predetermined portion. In this manner, asshown in FIG. 10, a word line WL constituted by the first metal layer 8can be formed.

(s) An insulating interlayer 6 c is deposited.

(t) A hole for a first via hole 14 is formed.

(u) Tungsten is buried in the first via hole 14, and tungsten is removedby etching except for the tungsten in the first via hole 14, as shown inFIG. 10. In this manner, an electric connection from the first metallayer 8 to a further upper layer can be formed.

(v) A second metal layer 9 is deposited, and it is removed except forpredetermined portions. In this manner, a bit line, a VDD line, and aground (GND) line can be formed by the second metal layer 9.

(w) An insulating interlayer 6 d is deposited.

(x) A hole for a second via hole is formed by etching.

(y) Tungsten is buried in the second via hole, and the tungsten isremoved except for the second via hole.

(z) A third metal wiring element 15 is deposited, and it is removedexcept for predetermined portions, as shown in FIG. 11.

With the above steps, the semiconductor storage device described abovecan be obtained. A semiconductor storage device is fabricated by thismethod. The semiconductor storage device includes first and second gatewiring elements 3 each having a rectangular shape having straight lineon opposite sides opposite to each other without a notch or aprojection. In addition, the first and second gate wiring elements 3 canbe regularly laid out along the longitudinal direction of the word line.In this manner, the transistor characteristics of the driver transistor11, the load transistor 12, the access transistor 13, and the likeconstituting the semiconductor storage device can be stabilized anduniformed. Therefore, a semiconductor storage device having stablecharacteristics can be obtained.

A semiconductor storage device according to second embodiment of thepresent invention will be described below with reference to plan viewsshowing the configurations of four memory cells in FIGS. 12 to 14. Thesemiconductor storage device is different from that according to firstembodiment except that, as shown in FIG. 12, distance (pitches) d1 ofthe first gate wiring elements 3 a and 3 b and the second gate wiringelements 3 c and 3 d in the longitudinal direction are substantiallyequal to each other. For this reason, since generation of opticalproximity effect can be suppressed in the photolithography process, theshapes of gate wiring elements need not be deformed for opticalproximity correction (OPC). Therefore, a yield can be prevented frombeing decreased by shortage of lithographic margin. Furthermore,lithographic resolution can be improved.

The semiconductor storage device, as shown in FIG. 13, four memory cellsare constituted as one repetitive unit. More specifically, a memory cell10 a and another 10 b have mirror symmetry with respect to theconfigurations of gate wiring elements. The memory cells 10 a and 10 care mirror-symmetrical each other. Therefore, the memory cells 10 a and10 d have the same gate wiring elements, and the memory cell 10 b and 10c have the same configurations of gate wiring elements. The repetitiveunit is not limited to the above-mentioned repetitive unit, and arepetitive unit including a plurality of memory cells may be constitutedby properly selecting a configuration of gate wiring elements.

As shown in FIG. 14, another configuration of the semiconductor storagedevice, a memory cell array may be constituted such that theconfiguration of the gate wiring elements of one memory cell 10 a isdirectly used as a repetitive unit. In this case, each of the memorycells 10 b, 10 c, and 10 d has the same configuration of gate wiringelements as that of the memory cell 10 a.

A semiconductor storage device according to third embodiment of thepresent invention will be described below. This semiconductor storagedevice is different from that according to second embodiment except thatthe lengths and distance between gate wiring elements in thelongitudinal direction in the first gate wiring elements 3 a and 3 b andthe second gate wiring elements 3 c and 3 d are substantially equal toeach other, respectively, and the widths and the distance between thegate wiring elements in a direction (second direction) perpendicular tothe longitudinal direction are equal to each other, respectively. Forthis reason, since generation of optical proximity effect can besuppressed in a photolithography process, the shapes of gate wiringelements need not be deformed for optical proximity correction (OPC).Therefore, a yield can be prevented from being deteriorated by ashortage of lithographic margin. In addition, when a regular layoutpattern is used, photolithography can be performed at high accuracy byusing super resolution technique.

The lengths, widths, and the like of the first and second gate wiringelements are made substantially equal to each other, respectively, andthe distance between the gate wiring elements are made equal to eachother, so that burying spacing between the layers can be kept uniform.Therefore, as an insulating interlayer, not only a boron phosphoroussilicate glass (BPSG) film having good overhang properties, but also afilm such as an nitride silicate glass (NSG) film or a phosho-silicateglass (PSG) film using a material having relatively poor overhangproperties can be used. For this reason, a high degree of freedom ofmaterial selection can be obtained, and the cost can be reduced. Inaddition, a material of the insulating interlayer can be selecteddepending on conditions such as machining difficulties, a dielectricconstant to be set, the degree of difficulty of void generation, and asoft error.

A semiconductor storage device according to fourth embodiment of thepresent invention will be described below with reference to the graph inFIG. 15. FIG. 15 shows a relationship between an aspect ratio x of agate wiring element and the number of generated defects when the width(shorter side W) of each gate wiring element is set to be 0.15 μm. Asshown in FIG. 15, this semiconductor storage device has an aspect ratiox of longer side length L to shorter side length W of each of first andsecond wiring elements being 5 or more. In this manner, the aspect ratioof the gate wiring element is set to be 5 or more, the number ofgenerated defects such as pattern disappearance in a photolithographyprocess can be considerably reduced.

In the semiconductor storage device according to the present invention,the first gate wiring element and the second gate wiring element haverectangular shapes each having straight line on opposite sides and beingfree from a notch or a projection, and are linearly laid out. In thismanner, since the first and second gate wiring elements can be formed athigh accuracy, the characteristics of transistors constituting a memorycells can be stabilized. For this reason, a semiconductor storage devicehaving stable characteristics can be obtained. In the semiconductorstorage device, contacts to the respective wiring elements are formed byusing local inter connectors (LICs). More specifically, the contacts ofthe respective gate wiring elements are not formed through via holesdirectly formed on the gate wiring elements, but the contacts are formedby the local inter connectors (LICs) formed by tungsten damascene. Whenthe local inter connectors (LICs) are used, regular gate wiring elementseach having a rectangular shape can be laid out without making a covermargin for contact in formation of the gate wiring elements. Inaddition, since the first gate wiring elements and the second gatewiring elements are laid out in parallel to each other, in the step offorming gate wiring elements by photolithography process, patterndistortion caused by interference can be suppressed. Therefore, anoptical proximity effect in the photolithography process can besuppressed.

In the semiconductor storage device according to the present invention,the longitudinal directions of the first and second gate wiring elementsextend in the direction of the gate width of an access transistor. Forthis reason, the longitudinal directions of the gate wiring elements canbe made equal to the longer side of the memory cell.

In addition, in the semiconductor storage device according to thepresent invention, the distance (pitches) of the first and second gateelectrodes are made substantially equal to each other in thelongitudinal direction (first direction). In this manner, sincegeneration of an optical proximity effect can be suppressed inphotolithography process, the shapes of the gate wiring elements neednot be deformed for optical proximity effect correction (OPC). Adecrease in yield caused by a shortage of lithographic margin can beprevented. A lithographic resolution can also be improved. In addition,since the characteristics of the respective transistors obtained asdescribed above can be made uniform and stable, a semiconductor storagedevice having stable characteristics can be obtained.

In the semiconductor storage device according to the present invention,since the distance between the first and second gate wiring elements canbe made substantially equal to each other, an optical proximity effectcan be further suppressed in photolithography process. For this reason,a decrease in yield caused by a shortage of lithographic margin can beprevented. A lithographic resolution can also be improved. In addition,since the characteristics of the respective transistors obtained asdescribed above can be made uniform and stable, a semiconductor storagedevice having stable characteristics can be obtained.

Furthermore, in the semiconductor storage device according to thepresent invention, since the first and second gate wiring elements haveshorter sides having lengths which are substantially equal to eachother, a optical proximity effect can be further suppressed inphotolithography process. For this reason, a decrease in yield caused bya shortage of lithographic margin can be prevented. A lithographicresolution can also be improved.

Still furthermore, in the semiconductor storage device according to thepresent invention, the shapes of the first gate wiring elements and thesecond gate wiring elements projected on a plane parallel to thesubstrate can be made substantially equal to each other, so that buryingspacing between the layers can be kept uniform. Therefore, as aninsulating interlayer, not only a BPSG film having good overhangproperties, but also a film such as an NSG film or a PSG film using amaterial having relatively poor overhang properties can be used. Forthis reason, a high degree of freedom of material selection can beobtained, and the cost can be reduced. In addition, a material of theinsulating interlayer can be selected depending on conditions such asmachining difficulties of chemical mechanical polishing, a dielectricconstant to be set, the degree of difficulty of void generation, and asoft error.

In the semiconductor storage device according to the present invention,the first and second gate wiring elements are symmetrically arrangedwith respect to a predetermined symmetrical point. For this reason, amask can be used such that the mask is rotated about the predeterminedsymmetrical point.

Furthermore, in the semiconductor storage device according to thepresent invention, an aspect ratio x of longer side L to shorter side Wof each of the first and second gate wiring elements is 5 or more. Whenthe aspect ratio of the gate wiring element is set to be 5 or more, thenumber of generated defects such as pattern disappearance can beconsiderably reduced.

Still furthermore, in the semiconductor storage device according to thepresent invention, the lengths of the shorter sides of the first andsecond gate wiring elements are 0.15 μm or less, the respective memorycells can be decreased patterning size.

In the semiconductor storage device according to the present invention,since the first and second local inter connectors consist of tungstendamascene, a contact margin for making a contact to a gate wiringelement is not required. For this reason, the shapes of the gate wiringelements need not be deformed for a margin for contact in formation ofthe gate wiring elements.

In the semiconductor storage device according to the present invention,the longitudinal directions of the first and second gate wiring elementsare arranged in parallel to each other. For this reason, formation ofthe gate wiring elements can be simplified. Therefore, the fabricatingsteps can be simplified.

In the semiconductor storage device according to the present invention,since the distance between the first and second gate wiring elementsadjacent to each other in at least one of the first and seconddirections are made substantially equal to each other, an opticalproximity effect can be suppressed in photolithography process. For thisreason, a decrease in yield caused by a shortage of lithographic margincan be prevented. A lithographic resolution can also be improved. Inaddition, since the characteristics of the respective transistorsobtained as described above can be made uniform and stable, asemiconductor storage device having stable characteristics can beobtained.

In the semiconductor storage device according to the present invention,the projected shapes of the first gate wiring elements and the secondgate wiring elements on a plane parallel to the substrate can be madesubstantially equal to each other, so that burying spacing between thelayers can be kept uniform. Therefore, as an insulating interlayer, notonly a BPSG film having good overhang properties, but also a film suchas an NSG film or a PSG film using a material having relatively pooroverhang properties can be used. For this reason, a high degree offreedom of material selection can be obtained, and the cost can bereduced. In addition, a material of the insulating interlayer can beselected depending on conditions such as machining difficulties ofchemical mechanical polishing, a dielectric constant to be set, thedegree of difficulty of void generation, and a soft error.

In the semiconductor storage device according to the present invention,the contacts are made by the first and second connectors withoutdirectly forming contact holes in the first and second gate wiringelements. Therefore, the gate wiring elements do not require contactmargins for contact. Therefore, the shapes of the gate wiring elementsneed not be deformed for contact margins in formation of the gate wiringelements.

In the method of fabricating a semiconductor storage device according tothe present invention, the first and second gate wiring elements havingrectangular shapes each having straight line on opposite sides and beingfree from a notch or a projection can be formed. In addition, the firstand second gate wiring elements can be regularly laid out along thelongitudinal direction of a word line. For this reason, thecharacteristics of transistors such as a driver transistor and an accesstransistor constituting the semiconductor storage device can be madestable and uniform. Therefore, a semiconductor storage device havingstable characteristics can be obtained.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with thepreferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications areapparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications areto be understood as included within the scope of the present inventionas defined by the appended claims, unless they depart therefrom.

1. A semiconductor device having a static memory cell array, the staticmemory cell array comprising: first and second static memory cells; anda word line, wherein each of the first and second static memory cellsincludes a latch circuit having a first inverter and a second inverter,and a first access transistor and a second access transistor connectedto the latch circuit thereof, wherein the first inverter has a firstdriver transistor and a first load transistor, and the second inverterhas a second driver transistor and a second load transistor, wherein theword line is electrically connected to gate electrode of the first andsecond access transistors of the first and second static memory cells,and the word line elongates along a first direction, wherein the firstand second static memory cells are disposed adjacently along the firstdirection, wherein a gate electrode of each transistor of the firststatic memory cell and a gate electrode of each transistor of the secondstatic memory cell are disposed as a mirror symmetry with respect to aline along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction,wherein a first gate wiring is integrated by the gate electrodes of thefirst driver transistor and the first load transistor of the firststatic memory cell, wherein a second gate wiring is integrated by thegate electrodes of the first driver transistor and the first loadtransistor of the second static memory cell, wherein a third gate wiringis integrated by the gate electrodes of the second driver transistor andthe second load transistor of the first static memory cell, wherein afourth gate wiring is integrated by the gate electrodes of the seconddriver transistor and the second load transistor of the second staticmemory cell, wherein a fifth gate wiring is integrated by the gateelectrodes of the second access transistor of the first static memorycell and the second access transistor of the second static memory cell,wherein a sixth gate wiring includes the gate electrode of the firstaccess transistor of the first static memory cell, wherein a seventhgate wiring includes the gate electrode of the first access transistorof the second static memory cell, wherein the first gate wiring, thesecond gate wiring, the third gate wiring, the fourth gate wiring, thefifth gate wiring, the sixth gate wiring, and the seventh gate wiringhave a rectangular shape with a pair of longer sides along the firstdirection and a pair of shorter side along the second direction,respectively, wherein active regions of transistors of the first andsecond static memory cells have opposing first sides, and the firstsides are disposed along the second direction, respectively, wherein thesixth gate wiring, the third gate wiring, the fourth gate wiring and theseventh gate wiring are disposed on a first straight line along thefirst direction in turn, wherein the first gate wiring, the fifth gatewiring and the second gate wiring are disposed on a second straight linealong the first direction in turn, wherein a first distance between anedge of the first sides of the active region of each access transistorand an edge of the shorter side of the gate wiring of each accesstransistor is longer than a second distance between an edge of the sidesof the active region of each driver transistor and an edge of theshorter side of the gate wiring of each driver transistor, wherein thefirst distance is a shortest distance along the first direction betweenthe edge of the first side of the active region of each accesstransistor and the edge of the shorter side of the gate electrode ofeach access transistor, and the second distance is a shortest distancealong the first direction between the edge of the first side of theactive region of each driver transistor and the edge of the shorter sideof the gate electrode of each driver transistor, wherein the sixth gatewiring, the third gate wiring, the fourth gate wiring and the seventhgate wiring are arranged to have a third distance between each adjacentgate wiring, and wherein the first gate wiring, the fifth gate wiringand the second gate wiring are arranged to have the third distancebetween each adjacent gate wiring.
 2. The semiconductor device accordingto claim 1, wherein the longer sides of the first gate wiring, thesecond gate wiring, the third gate wiring, the fourth gate wiring andfifth gate wiring have a substantially equal length to each other. 3.The semiconductor device according to claim 2, wherein the first gatewiring, the second gate wiring, the third gate wiring, the fourth gatewiring and fifth gate wiring each have an aspect ratio of the longerside of the gate wiring to the shorter side of not less than 5, andwherein the shorter side of the gate wiring of each transistor has alength not longer than 0.15 μm.
 4. The semiconductor device according toclaim 1, wherein a first edge is the edge of the first side of theactive region of each access transistor and the first edge configuresthe edge of the first side of the first distance, wherein a firstopposite edge is the edge of the first side of the active region of eachaccess transistor and the first opposite edge opposes the first edge,wherein a second edge is the edge of the first side of the active regionof each driver transistor and the second edge configures the edge of thefirst side of the second distance, wherein a second opposite edge is theedge of the first side of the active region of each driver transistorand the second opposite edge opposes the second edge, wherein a firstlong edge includes the first edge in the access transistor and thesecond opposite edge in the driver transistor beside the accesstransistor, and the first long edge is uneven, wherein a second longedge includes the first opposite edge in the access transistor and thesecond edge in the driver transistor beside the access transistor, andthe second long edge is uneven, and wherein an access transistor gatewidth of each access transistor is narrower than a driver transistorgate width of each driver transistor.
 5. The semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein immediately adjacent gate electrodes alongthe first direction are spaced apart substantially equal distances fromeach other.
 6. A semiconductor device comprising: a memory cell arraycomprising first and second static memory cells and a word line, whereineach static memory cell includes a latch circuit having a first inverterand a second inverter, and a first access transistor and a second accesstransistor connected to the latch circuit thereof, wherein the firstinverter has a first driver transistor and a first load transistor, andthe second inverter has a second driver transistor and a second loadtransistor, wherein the word line is electrically connected to a gateelectrode of the first and second access transistors of the first andsecond static memory cells, and the word line elongates along a firstdirection, wherein the first and second static memory cells are disposedadjacently along the first direction, wherein a first cell first invertgate electrode is integrated by the gate electrodes of the first drivertransistor and the first load transistor of the first static memorycell, wherein a second cell first invert gate electrode is integrated bythe gate electrodes of the first driver transistor and the first loadtransistor of the second static memory cell, wherein a first cell secondinvert gate electrode is integrated by the gate electrodes of the seconddriver transistor and the second load transistor of the first staticmemory cell, wherein a second cell second invert gate electrode isintegrated by the gate electrodes of the second driver transistor andthe second load transistor of the second static memory cell, wherein atwo-cells gate electrode is integrated by the gate electrodes of thesecond access transistor of the first static memory cell and the secondaccess transistor of the second static memory cell, wherein a firstaccess gate electrode includes the gate electrode of the first accesstransistor of the first static memory cell, wherein a second access gateelectrode includes the gate electrode of the first access transistor ofthe second static memory cell, wherein the first cell first invert gateelectrode, the second cell first invert gate electrode, the first cellsecond invert gate electrode, the second cell second invert gateelectrode, the first access gate electrode, the second access gateelectrode, and the two-cells gate electrode are rectangular-shapedhaving a pair of longer sides along the first direction and a pair ofshorter sides along a second direction crossing the first direction,wherein active regions of transistors of the first and second staticmemory cells have opposing first sides, and the longer sides aredisposed along the second direction, respectively, wherein the firstaccess gate electrode, the first cell second invert gate electrode, thesecond cell second invert gate electrode and the second access gateelectrode are disposed on a first straight line along the firstdirection in turn, wherein the first cell first invert gate electrode,the two-cells gate electrode and the second cell first invert gateelectrode are disposed on a second straight line along the firstdirection in turn, wherein a first distance between an edge of the firstside of the active region of each access transistor and an edge of theshorter side of the gate electrode of each access transistor is longerthan a second distance between an edge of the first side of the activeregion of each driver transistor and an edge of the shorter side of thegate electrode of each driver transistor, wherein the first distance isa shortest distance along the first direction between the edge of thefirst side of the active region of each access transistor and the edgeof the shorter side of the gate electrode of each access transistor, andthe second distance is a shortest distance along the first directionbetween the edge of the first side of the active region of each drivertransistor and the edge of the shorter side of the gate electrode ofeach driver transistor, wherein the first access gate electrode, thefirst cell second invert gate electrode, the second cell second invertgate electrode and the second access gate electrode are arranged to havea third distance between each adjacent gate electrode, and wherein thefirst cell invert gate electrode, the two-cells gate electrode and thesecond cell first invert gate electrode are arranged to have the thirddistance between each adjacent gate electrode.
 7. The semiconductordevice according to claim 6, wherein the longer sides of the first cellsecond invert gate electrode, the second cell second invert gateelectrode, the first cell first invert gate electrode, the two-cellsgate electrode and the second cell first invert gate electrode have asubstantially equal length to each other.
 8. The semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 7, wherein the first cell first invert gateelectrode, the second cell first invert gate electrode, the first cellsecond invert gate electrode, the second cell second invert gateelectrode and the two-cells gate electrode each have an aspect ratio ofthe longer side of the gate electrode to the shorter side of not lessthan 5, and wherein the shorter side of the gate electrode of eachtransistor has a length not longer than 0.15 μm.
 9. The semiconductordevice according to claim 6, wherein a fourth distance is a shortestdistance along the first direction between the edge of the first side ofthe active region of each driver transistor and the edge of the shorterside of the gate electrode of each access transistor, wherein a fifthdistance is a shortest distance along the first direction between theedge of the first side of the active region of each access transistorand the edge of the shorter side of the gate electrode of each drivertransistor, wherein the first distance is longer than the fourthdistance, and wherein the second distance is shorter than the fifthdistance.
 10. A semiconductor device comprising: a memory cell arraycomprising first and second static memory cells, first neighbor andsecond neighbor static memory cells and a word line, wherein each staticmemory cell includes a latch circuit having a first inverter and asecond inverter, and a first access transistor connected to a firstoutput of the first inverter and a second access transistor connected toa second output of the second inverter, wherein the first inverter has afirst driver transistor and a first load transistor, and the secondinverter having a second driver transistor and a second load transistor,wherein the word line is electrically connected to gate electrode of thefirst and second access transistors of the first and second staticmemory cells, and the word line is arranged along a first direction,wherein the first and second static memory cells are disposed adjacentlyalong the first direction, wherein the first and second neighbor staticmemory cells are disposed adjacently along the first direction, whereinthe first neighbor static memory cell and the first static memory cellare disposed adjacently along a second direction perpendicular to thefirst direction, wherein the second static memory cell and the secondneighbor static memory cell are disposed adjacently along the seconddirection, wherein a gate electrode of each transistor of the firststatic memory cell and a gate electrode of each transistor of the secondstatic memory cell are disposed as a mirror symmetry with respect to thesecond direction, wherein a gate electrode of each transistor of thefirst neighbor static memory cell and a gate electrode of eachtransistor of the second neighbor static memory cell are disposed as amirror symmetry with respect to a second direction, wherein the gateelectrode of each transistor of the first static memory cell and thegate electrode of each transistor of the first neighbor static memorycell are disposed as a mirror symmetry with respect to the firstdirection, wherein the gate electrode of each transistor of the secondstatic memory cell and the gate electrode of each transistor of thesecond neighbor static memory cell are disposed as a mirror symmetrywith respect to the first direction, wherein a first cell first invertgate electrode is integrated by the gate electrodes of the first drivertransistor and the first load transistor of the first static memorycell, wherein a second cell first invert gate electrode is integrated bythe gate electrodes of the first driver transistor and the first loadtransistor of the second static memory cell, wherein a first cell secondinvert gate electrode is integrated by the gate electrodes of the seconddriver transistor and the second load transistor of the first staticmemory cell, wherein a second cell second invert gate electrode isintegrated by the gate electrodes of the second driver transistor andthe second load transistor of the second static memory cell, wherein atwo-cells gate electrode is integrated by the gate electrodes of thesecond access transistor of the first static memory cell and the secondaccess transistor of the second static memory cell, wherein a firstaccess gate electrode includes the gate electrode of the first accesstransistor of the first static memory cell, wherein a second access gateelectrode includes the gate electrode of the first access transistor ofthe second static memory cell, wherein the first cell first invert gateelectrode, the second cell first invert gate electrode, the first cellsecond invert gate electrode, the second cell second invert gateelectrode, the two-cells gate electrode, the first access gate electrodeand the second access gate electrode are rectangular-shaped having apair of opposing longer sides along the first direction and a pair ofopposing shorter sides along the second direction, wherein activeregions of transistors of the first and second static memory cells havea pair of opposing first sides, and the first sides are disposed alongthe second direction, respectively, wherein the first access gateelectrode, the first cell second invert gate electrode, the second cellsecond invert gate electrode and the second access gate electrode aredisposed on a first straight line along the first direction in turn,wherein the first cell first invert gate electrode, the two-cells gateelectrode and the second cell first invert gate electrode are disposedon a second straight line along the first direction in turn, wherein thefirst access transistors of the first and second memory cells have afirst distance between an edge of the first side of its active regionand an edge of the shorter side of its gate electrode, wherein thesecond access transistors of the first and second memory cells have asecond distance between an edge of the first side of its active regionand an edge of the shorter side of gate electrode, wherein the firstdriver transistors of the first and second memory cells have a thirddistance between an edge of the first side of its active region and anedge of the shorter edge of its gate electrode, wherein the seconddriver transistors of the first and second memory cells have a fourthdistance between an edge of the first side of its active region and anedge of the shorter side of its gate electrode, wherein the firstdistance is longer than the third distance, wherein the second distanceis longer than the fourth distance, wherein the first distance is ashortest distance along the first direction between the edge of thefirst side of the active region of the first access transistors and theedge of the shorter side of the gate electrode of the first accesstransistors, the second distance is a shortest distance along the firstdirection between the edge of the first side of the active region of thesecond access transistors and the edge of the shorter side of the gateelectrode of the second access transistors, the third distance is ashortest distance along the first direction between the edge of thefirst side of the active region of the first driver transistors and theedge of the shorter side of the gate electrode of the first drivertransistors, and the fourth distance is a shortest distance along thefirst direction between the edge of the first side of the active regionof the second driver transistors and the edge of the shorter side of thegate electrode of the second driver transistors, wherein the firstaccess gate electrode, the first cell second invert gate electrode, thesecond cell second invert gate electrode and the second access gateelectrode are arranged to have a fifth distance between each adjacentgate electrode, and wherein the first cell invert gate electrode, thetwo-cells gate electrode and the second cell first invert gate electrodeare arranged to have the fifth distance between each adjacent gateelectrode.
 11. The semiconductor device according to claim 10, whereinthe longer sides of the first cell second invert gate electrode, thesecond cell second invert gate electrode, the first cell first invertgate electrode, the two-cells gate electrode and the second cell firstinvert gate electrode have a substantially equal length to each other.12. The semiconductor device according to claim 11, wherein the firstcell first invert gate electrode, the second cell first invert gateelectrode, the first cell second invert gate electrode, the second cellsecond invert gate electrode and the two-cells gate electrode each havean aspect ratio of the longer side of the gate electrode to the shorterside of not less than 5, and wherein the shorter side of the gateelectrode of each transistor has a length not longer than 0.15 μm. 13.The semiconductor device according to claim 12, wherein immediatelyadjacent gate electrodes along the second direction are spaced apartsubstantially equal distances from each other.
 14. The semiconductordevice according to claim 10, wherein a sixth distance is a shortestdistance along the first direction between the edge of the first side ofthe active region of the first driver transistors and the edge of theshorter side of the gate electrode of the first access transistors,wherein a seventh distance is a shortest distance along the firstdirection between the edge of the first side of the active region of thesecond driver transistors and the edge of the shorter side of the gateelectrode of the second access transistors, wherein a eighth distance isa shortest distance along the first direction between the edge of thefirst side of the active region of the first access transistors and theedge of the shorter side of the gate electrode of the first drivertransistors, wherein a ninth distance is a shortest distance along thefirst direction between the edge of the first side of the active regionof the second access transistors and the edge of the shorter side of thegate electrode of the second driver transistors, wherein the firstdistance is longer than the sixth distance, wherein the second distanceis longer than the seventh distance, wherein the third distance isshorter than the eighth distance, and wherein the fourth distance isshorter than the ninth distance.